[pat5150]

Hey guys,

Like many of you (I suppose), over the years I've acquired a lot of books that gained value with time. Add to that all the advance reading copies and the special editions that are one of the perks of being a reviewer, and I've build quite the SFF collection.

A few years back, I saw this FB post about a guy finding some 1st print Stephen King novels at a goodwill store worth thousands of dollars and which he only paid about 30$ for. Even though all my goodies were insured back then, it made me realize that if I died in a car accident that day, my family would have no idea of the worth of my stuff. Moreover, living in a French-speaking province, chances were that used bookstores wouldn't, either.

It dawned upon me then that I was more of a reader than a collector, and I gradually began to sell my goodies to finance trips and other things that are more important to me than expensive books. Started in 2022 and every year I sold more books and ARCs. Unloaded about 3500$ worth of stuff last week, and I would say I've sold for more than 10,000$ worth of collectibles since 2022. Still have some listings on FB going on and hoping to maybe get myself another K if I can.

I'm wondering if you guys have ever given any thought about your SFF collection and what would happen to it should a tragedy befall you? Personally, I realize that I prefer to take advantage of what the money can get me now. I think that turning 50 last year really brought home the fact that I'm not getting any younger!

What about you?

[Tsundoku]

Y'know, there's a reason I changed my username from Sombra to Tsundoku.

I have about 1500+ dead tree books that removalists tend to view with horror every time I move. Not too shabby if I do say so myself. My mate's older brother died recently and he had about 5 times that, and would have been more if he hadn't had to unload a lot after his divorce years ago.
Mine would be a LOT worse but over 10 years ago I basically stopped buying hard copies except for really special ones. That, plus lack of room and getting a family makes a difference.

I have absolutely zero idea about it's value, but I'd say not much since there's no rare stuff in there. SOME of us don't move in such rarefied literary air Mr Name-Drop Patto.

It'd cost a bucketload to replace though. Once upon a time I wanted a book collection so large you could see it from space but time and circumstances brought that to a screeching halt. When we win the $100+ million lottery though, Imma making sure there's a big room for a library in the new place and I'll go on an absolute dead-tree buying bender. Will have to hire someone to catalogue it too.

In my will it goes to my son as a single piece. What he does with it is up to him, but hopefully he'll dispose of it with some thought as to other people enjoying it, not just dumping it. The cynic in me thinks he'll probably have to burn it in winter if humanity is still here after who knows how many years of the Trump-Putler-Pooh Bear dynasties.

This post has been edited by Tsundoku: Yesterday, 09:10 PM

[pat5150]

You'd be surprised how much some of your 1st print hardcovers might be worth.

[amphibian]

There's a wisdom in realizing a changing value system and then acting on the changes in ways that keep you really happy. Kudos to both Pat and Tsundoku for doing that. Kids, wanting to see the world, not enough space, falling out of love with books etc - it's all quite normal and absolutely worth changing things around for.

My younger brother is aware of the more special things I have in a general way. My partner will learn of them over time (we're still new-ish to each other). My general thought is that I don't usually have to make an either/or choice, partly because I don't usually want bigger bulky book editions, partly because work is challenging enough to make frequent travel tough, and partly because I'm lucky to have enough storage space. That's let me hang onto certain books far longer than many would and I'm fairly sure I'll give them away rather than sell.

My motivation for giving vs selling is that I don't really want to do the work of selling one by one, while I love seeing someone light up regarding a book they've gotten etc.

[QuickTidal]

I have a few completely rare out of print books that I’m sure are worth a decent amount (a few hundred each) just randomly in my collection. Hell, my CROWN OF STARS Kate Elliott collection (all MMPB, most near new or very good) that I grabbed over the last 5 years or so used are all worth over $35 each, with one or two of them pushing into the hundreds online resale…and even the kindle versions are like $26-30…I have to assume that happened when DAW stopped printing them? And it’s just so random right? Like I just read the first as a library book, loved it and sought them out to buy as I really wanted to own them all…and a few years later here they are super rare and out of print.

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

I think the only valuable first-edition novels I have are all in French... and older than I am (inherited from my grandparents). Stuff like Sartre etc iirc.

Most Americans would probably look at them and say, "WTF is that crap, the covers are so boring...".

As an adult in terms of fantasy novels I think I've only bought audiobooks and ebooks---mostly audiobooks---and Audible books can't be resold (and don't get counted as "first editions" even if you preorder...).

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: Today, 01:23 AM

[Abyss]

Mine have all the necessary resurrection rituals tabbed and hilited.

[pat5150]

QuickTidal, on 23 February 2025 - 12:26 AM, said:

I have a few completely rare out of print books that I’m sure are worth a decent amount (a few hundred each) just randomly in my collection. Hell, my CROWN OF STARS Kate Elliott collection (all MMPB, most near new or very good) that I grabbed over the last 5 years or so used are all worth over $35 each, with one or two of them pushing into the hundreds online resale…and even the kindle versions are like $26-30…I have to assume that happened when DAW stopped printing them? And it’s just so random right? Like I just read the first as a library book, loved it and sought them out to buy as I really wanted to own them all…and a few years later here they are super rare and out of print.

There seems to be an ebb and flow kind of thing with lots of titles, or else early works by an author who wasn't popular back then but whose popularity grew with time (like Abercrombie and Sanderson), which can really have an influence on the worth of books. You can seldom tell at the time of publishing just what will turn out to become expensive. It's inevitable that people like us, who have been buying SFF novels for year and years, will acquire some that wil become highly sought after.